By TOM LUCKIE III

OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg Public Library will seek $50,000 from Ogdensburg School District taxpayers during the next school budget vote in May.

After being hit with nearly $40,000 in cuts in the latest city budget, the library considered several options for making up the loss in funding. That included establishing a library district, but Library Director Penny Kerfien said the board of trustees instead elected to seek funding though the Ogdensburg School District.

State law allows public libraries to raise money in this fashion if they successfully garner enough signatures to get the referendum on the ballot.

Kerfien said the library will request $50,000 from district taxpayers. While the majority of the money will come from Ogdensburg residents, parts of Oswegatchie and Lisbon also fall within the city’s school ditrict.

Information concerning a request by the Ogdensburg Public Library to include a proposed "School Ballot Referendum" on the Annual School District Meeting and Election ballot to be held on Tuesday, May 16 was presented to the district's Board of Education at Monday's school board meeting.

The library's Board of Trustees passed a resolution to pursue funds through a school district vote on Monday, Jan. 23. The proposition cites city budget cuts as the cause for a loss of $39,731 for 2017 alone.

If district taxpayers vote in favor of the referendum, the tax increase would amount to less than $16 for every $100,000 of assessed property value in Lisbon and less than $14 per $100,000 of assessed property value in Ogdensburg and Oswegatchie.

Library trustees plan to gather the signatures required to place the referendum on the ballot and make a formal request at the Board of Education meeting on Monday, Feb. 27. A minimum of 25 signatures is required.

New York State Education Law requires school districts to place properly submitted library funding proposals on ballots to be presented to voters.

If passed, the referendum will be considered an annual appropriation and will remain on the budget until changed by further vote.

The school district will be required to publish public notice of the potential referendum at least 30 days before the vote is scheduled.